2006

This April brought the usual flood of alumni and special events for Homecoming Weekend, but it also brought a new level of involvement from current students with an SA-sponsored Heritage Week leading up to Homecoming. SA president Juliana Dalotto led the campus in the week-long celebration of the past, complete with students dressing up in era costumes, lunchtime music, and evening movies from each decade. Students also made displays showing old photos of their dorms. The highlight of the week was colloquy on Thursday, when Helen Lee, PUC’s second-oldest alum and a graduate of the Class of 1936, told tales from her student days at PUC. “Though we get old, we were young at one time,” she said, “and we were not much different than young people now.” Students were in stitches over the stories and remarks of this 92-year-old veteran missionary and even gave her a standing ovation. Lee concluded with some passionate advice for PUC students: “I hope that each one here leaves knowing how to differentiate between ‘pitcher’ and ‘picture,’ when to use ‘lie’ and ‘lay,’ and when to say ‘you and I’ and when to say ‘you and me.’” When the laughter died down, she added,...

Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva, Director of Health for Sri Lanka, visited Pacific Union College and St. Helena Hospital on Tuesday, April 11, during his family’s vacation in the U.S. De Silva toured the science departments of the college, including a special visit with the nursing department’s programmable medical mannequin, SimMan, as well as taking a tour of St. Helena Hospital. De Silva’s interest in the college and hospital stems from the connection between Pacific Union College and the Associated College of Health Sciences, which opened in Sri Lanka in 2003 as part of an effort to increase the number of qualified nurses in that country. Dr. Julia Pearce, the former chair of the Pacific Union College nursing department, was instrumental in helping the new school develop its curriculum and in advising the school’s administration about Western healthcare training standards. Pearce spent a week in Sri Lanka when the school opened, participating in the ceremonies, bringing 200 pounds of books and materials with her, and helping with curriculum preparation. Three years later, in January of 2006, Pearce returned for the first graduation—with another 100 pounds of books. “I never thought I’d get father than Phoenix!” Pearce laughs. “So this is...

At the all-school colloquy on April 6, Pacific Union College President Richard Osborn presented alumnus Jake Scheideman with a check for $8,388. About two months earlier, Scheideman shared at a colloquy program about his housing project in Nicaragua (see “A Spontaneous Gift: Students Send $8,000 to Nicaragua” ). At the end of his story, students, faculty and staff made donations and pledges toward funding one of the houses in the Nicaraguan village, which cost about $6,000 each to build. On April 6, the total amount was presented to Scheideman and the St. Helena Rotary Club, which oversees the project. “This is humbling, and outstanding!” Scheideman said. He hopes to use the money to fund one of the houses in the most recent building phase, which will be completed at the end of May. “We can all do something,” Scheideman told the audience. “As educated Americans we have a responsibility to do something for our world—and it’s fun!”...

Godfrey Miranda, a 2005 PUC graduate, returned to share his original musical composition with students at the first colloquy of spring quarter. His homecoming featured a successful first performance of In the Beginning: a Symphonic Suite. Performed by the PUC Orchestra and conducted by Rachelle Berthelsen Davis, this five-part movement is based on the five themes of John Milton’s book Paradise Lost. The theme of each movements portrayed a section of the book using both visual and sound elements. The text and graphic representations displayed on the overhead screen followed the story behind each movement. One movement featured a jazz duet between the clarinet and flute representing Satan’s temptation of Eve at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Before the first and fourth movement, Miranda’s enthusiasm for the subject barely kept him in his seat and he jumped up to explain the emotions and thoughts tied into each individual work. This was the first time Miranda heard the entire piece played live (he composed it using his computer and synthesized instruments), and his excitement was evident before and during the performance. When the performance ended Miranda’s reaction was pure joy. “Oh wow! That was rich,” he said. “The...

Imagine living in a 25-foot trailer, with knowledge that at the end of the year, you’ll have to move out and somehow find a job. Citizens of Waveland, Mississippi have been surviving like this for the past seven months. Since Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast last year, 75 percent of the businesses in Waveland, which is located about 30 minutes from New Orleans, have remained closed, and the lingering residents possess little hope for the future. Youth pastor Jon Cicle from the Pacific Union College Church and a group of 16 volunteers journeyed to New Orleans and Waveland during spring break to take part in continued efforts to get the Gulf states back on track. PUC student Jaylene Chung and her parents provided the crew with a nice surprise by unexpectedly joining up with them in Waveland. While most experts are estimating that clearing the devastation and rebuilding will take at least three to five years, the group of PUC students, high school students, and sponsors did their best to make a difference in the lives of some grateful families. From removing broken toilets and appliances to clearing debris washed in from massive flooding, the group worked...

PUC alumna Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson recently published her first book-length translation, Rainbow Over Hell. Currently a free-lance writer, this 1997 PUC graduate shares with English-readers the true story of a man transformed from an assassin to a Seventh-day Adventist pastor. Written by award-winning Japanese author Tsuneyuki Mohri, Rainbow Over Hell was printed by two major Japanese publishing houses in 2005 and is now available for the first time in English. Rainbow Over Hell describes Saburo Arakaki’s journey after joining a group of militants at 18 during the 1944 war in Saipan. After the final surrender of Saipan he was arrested for assassinating two men thought to be corroborating with the U.S. Air Force, and was sentenced to death. During his time in prison he discovered the Bible and was so transformed by his new faith that his own warden petitioned for his release. In 1954 Arakaki received a full pardon from President Eisenhower and returned to Japan, where he became a Seventh-day Adventist minister. Fujimoto-Johnson sees the story as valuable on two levels. “This book is historically significant as a Pacific War account, but just as importantly, it’s also a message of hope.” She adds, “It was a privilege to translate...

On March 12, Nancy Lecourt accepted the invitation of the Pacific Union College board to serve as vice president for academic administration, starting July 1, 2006. Lecourt is a professor of English at PUC. She has been teaching at the college since 1979, serving as chair of the department for ten accumulative years. Lecourt has a Ph.D. in English from the University of New Hampshire. “Dr. Lecourt has shown as a professor and department chair at PUC that she has the leadership qualities and respect from colleagues needed to make an excellent Academic Dean. She has been serving this year as the writer for the accreditation reports to our regional accrediting body showing vision as a futurist leader,” said President Richard Osborn. Lecourt will replace current academic dean Ileana Douglas, who is leaving administration to return to the classroom. Douglas has served as vice president for academic administration since 1999. Prior to coming to PUC, Douglas taught history at Atlantic Union College. Next fall, she will begin a teaching appointment in the PUC history department as a professor. The search for a new academic dean began in January. Osborn chaired the search committee along with membership of one board member,...

PUC students, faculty and staff were treated to the scholarly insights of Dr. Robert Alter, a professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California at Berkeley, for this year’s Longo Lecture. Alter has written 22 books (with more on the way) and has won prizes for his translations of scripture and for his books on the art of Biblical narrative and poetry. Alter’s talk, “An Agenda for the Literary Study of the Bible,” focused on why he believes it is important to pay attention to the literary techniques of the ancient Hebrew writers in both scholarly and personal Bible study. Alter feels that paying attention to the language, rhythms, literary allusions and patterns in the text reveals the religious motivations of the writers. “Words are the instruments through which writers shape their vision of the world,” Alter said. “When you pay attention to the literary articulation, you see what’s going on in terms of the author’s religious vision.” Alter didn’t start out with the intention of becoming a Bible translator, but 25 years ago when he accepted an assignment to write a scholarly article based on the Hebrew scriptures, he discovered all of the translations had problems....

In 10 high-energy performances from February 16 to March 5, three PUC students brought audiences a hilarious presentation of Shakespeare’s works—all condensed into a two-hour performance. Senior television & film and history major Zach Dunn, sophomore English major Caleb Rasmussen, and senior math major David Kanter formed The United Shakespeareans and took on The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), a comedy in two acts written by The Reduced Shakespeare Company. Directed by PUC alum Jim Smith and produced by Resident Artist Mei Ann Teo, Complete Works featured the three actors taking on a wide assortment of roles as they portrayed, dissected and turned upside-down such characters as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Hamlet and a host of other classics from one of the most beloved playwrights of all time. It’s no surprise that all three of these students are more or less obsessed with Shakespeare. The skill—and endurance—with which they flew through scores of costume changes, songs, dances and a frantically paced synopsis of Hamlet was enough to verify their delight in this opportunity to present all of Shakespeare’s histories, comedies and tragedies in one performance....

For college teachers who have to fit their research endeavors around a busy teaching schedule, an endowed research professorship is a priceless opportunity. This year one of our own professors, Greg Schneider of the psychology and social work department, has been enveloped in just such an opportunity, provided by the Walter C. Utt Endowment. Even now he is engrossed in researching and writing on the history of Methodism and its influence on politics and family, following the research he presented in his influential 1993 book, The Way of the Cross Leads Home. The role of Utt professor is allowing Schneider to focus his time and energy on research and writing while teaching one class per quarter. “I realized that this would probably be the last big gift that would allow me to work on something of this scope and wanted to develop a topic that had been latent in my research and earlier book: the rise of evangelical political activity and influence,” Schneider explains. “If it weren’t for the Utt Chair this project would be dead in the water.” Awarding an endowed history professorship to a psychology and social work professor may seem a little unusual. But Schneider explains that...